cant blame em for being sceptical, saints had a pretty bad draft and limited cap room allowed the saints to only add keenan lewis in FA (and they were still lucky to do so).

All the improvement basically has to come from improved coaching/scheming which admittedly feels likely but its tough to project

How did we have a bad draft? We fixed our safety issue, we got a potential replacement at OT, we got a NT of the future for our 3-4 scheme. Also got a few million off the books by trading Ivory. Maybe we sign Woodson?

You can't grade the draft just yet - but by replacing Roman Harper with a do-it-all safety, we should get nothing lower than a B+. Harper is ******* atrocious. Arguably the worst starting SS in the league.

I know it's very, very early but St. Louis is getting a little too much love. Someone sell me on them.

The Rams defense is very young, very fast and very talented. One of my favourites to be a top 5 unit this year. Chris Long, Robert Quinn, Michael Brockers, James Laurinaitis, Alec Ogletree, Janoris Jenkins and Courtland Finnegan is about as talented nucleus of guys to build a defense around. They play extremely tough and with a bit of an edge to them.

The offense goes where Sam Bradford is able to take them, but unlike the previous years they have given him better tools to work with. There is a lot of upside with this unit.
The o-line got better by signing Jake Long and drafting Barrett Jones.
The skill position guys have a lot of potential, but also a lot of question marks. Will Chris Givens and Brian Quick continue to grow? Will the addition of Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey bring some much needed firepower? Will Jared Cook fullfill his potential, and live up to his big deal?
Finally, will Darryl Richardson/Isaiah Pead/Zac Stacy step up, and fill the void after Steven Jacksons departure?

Thats a whole lot of "ifs" but if the projections come true, the Rams could have a very good offense in the upcoming season.

Finally, I think a lot of the love is directly related to how well they played against San Fran and Seattle last year. They basically went blow for blow with two of the most talented teams in the entire league, and came out with a 2-1-1 record when it was all said and done.
The Rams might be a year away from being a serious contender, but they still might be one of the toughest teams to beat this year.

Thats my pitch, fwiw.

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Justin Tucker is a better and more productive NFL player than Brandon Graham.

I know it's very, very early but St. Louis is getting a little too much love. Someone sell me on them.

I'm not trying to get ahead of myself here. I mean, I know anything can happen, but I don't have dreams of grandiosity. I do, however, think their talent level has grown by leaps and bounds during the last two offseasons. The Seahawks and 49ers have more talent than we do, but when compared to the entire league, we are now middle of the pack, maybe approaching the top 12. When Fisher and Snead got here we were in the bottom 8.

Fans have gotten used to the idea that Sam Bradford is merely average and will never live up to his full potential. I think people are in for a big surprise. I saw him starting to own the leadership role late last year, and I believe this is his year to break out. He built some strong chemistry with Givens last year, which was huge, because it was with someone besides Amendola. He had relied on his blanky too often, and it was important for him to learn to work through his progressions. He will improve in this area again this year, and receivers will be open more often for him. We have more more dynamic players at the skill positions and, while there is a learning curve, they will ultimately be a lot better than in the past. From a potential standpoint, we have one of the more talented WR groups in the league in Givens/Quick/Austin/Bailey/Pettis.

Our defense made huge strides last year and we got better this offseason. Yeah, we lost our starting safety tandem from last year. For what that's worth, Dahl was just a body, and there's a good chance we bring Mikell back. McDonald will bring a physical presence that hasn't been there, and McGee will bring depth. Depth...that's a word that has not been thown around here very often in recent years. Ogletree will turn a lot of 6 yard gains into 2 or 3 yard gains. We have one of the best young front 7s in football, in terms of talent level.

I see us being one of the cusp teams this year. Maybe we make the playoffs, maybe not, but I think we will be in the hunt. Where I took offense was when someone had us 23rd in their rankings. That suggests that we go backward from all the momentum that has been building in the new regime. We still have bumps ahead, as all young teams do, but this team is headed in a positive direction.

I can see us as a top ten team as I'm sure fans of every team think the same thing for their teams. The offense should be better with a year in the system. Getting Gholdson, Revis and Banks and getting Adrian Clayborne, Carl Nicks and Davin Joseph back you would think the division is a lock, lol. It's going to be a fun year in the NFC South, everyone got better.

1 we spent a high first round pick on vaccaro
2 we ignored passrusher alltogether
3 we traded up to get fewer picks in the rounds where this draft was absolutely loaded
4 we spent a high first round pick on vaccaro

1 we spent a high first round pick on vaccaro
2 we ignored passrusher alltogether
3 we traded up to get fewer picks in the rounds where this draft was absolutely loaded
4 we spent a high first round pick on vaccaro

What if Vacarro plays as well, or better, than last year's rookie safety for the Vikings, Harrison Smith? He was a guy a lot of peanut gallery fans weren't high on before the draft, some of us included (raises hand).

What if Vacarro plays as well, or better, than last year's rookie safety for the Vikings, Harrison Smith? He was a guy a lot of peanut gallery fans weren't high on before the draft, some of us included (raises hand).

low blow PF. The gmen will be over their superbowl hangover, we'll have a running game for the first time since 2008, and our DL won't get worn out like it was last year. Giants will be back and contending this year.

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BK

Quote:

Originally Posted by AcheTen

JPP is a better and more productive player than Brandon Graham

Quote:

Originally Posted by abaddon41_80

Is Shaun Hill a top 10 QB? Definitely not. Is he a top 20 one? Almost certainly.

1 we spent a high first round pick on vaccaro
2 we ignored passrusher alltogether
3 we traded up to get fewer picks in the rounds where this draft was absolutely loaded
4 we spent a high first round pick on vaccaro

starters: Victor Butler, Martez Wilson, Junior Galette ... a 4th pass rusher wasn't our biggest need. You're forgetting how ****** Harper is. Vaccaro can cover, he can tackle, he can play nickel, ... you can put him anywhere on the defense. I think you'll love the pick after a few games.

I do have GB above NE, however to play Devil's advocate, the Packers have serious questions in the secondary and along the offensive line

In addition if our defense sucks I don't think it will because of the secondary. We have 3 quality starters there. It will be because our linebackers can't cover and we can't find a secondary pass rusher.

In addition if our defense sucks I don't think it will because of the secondary. We have 3 quality starters there. It will be because our linebackers can't cover and we can't find a secondary pass rusher.

Our secondary has really good potential. In McCourty, Talib and Dennard there are 3 good players and guys like Ryan, Dowling, Wilson offer depth at a pretty good level (if healthy)

I think we will see more 3 safety looks with Adrian Wilson playing more of a hybrid safety/LB role to improve on coverage.

Hightower is ok in covering short zones, Mayo is fine in coverage but Spikes isn't good. I wouldn't be surprised to see Wilson subbing for Spikes on numerous occasions.

The secondary pass rusher is the concern for me though, if Nink doesn't have another good year. Hopefully the combination of Kelly and Armstead next to Wilfork can offer some interior pressure because I don't think we should expect much out of Cunningham, Deaderick, Francis, Bequette etc and I think Collins may take some time to develop

I do have GB above NE, however to play Devil's advocate, the Packers have serious questions in the secondary and along the offensive line

The Packers do have issues at safety, I won't deny that. With Nick Perry returning from injury and Datone Jones being added to the line, the hope is that the defense will be able to generate more pressure from people not named Clay. Along the offensive line, the team is attempting a huge overhaul with flipping the guards and placing Bulaga at left tackle, which could play out very poorly. I am certainly more concerned about the offensive line.

The Packers do have issues at safety, I won't deny that. With Nick Perry returning from injury and Datone Jones being added to the line, the hope is that the defense will be able to generate more pressure from people not named Clay. Along the offensive line, the team is attempting a huge overhaul with flipping the guards and placing Bulaga at left tackle, which could play out very poorly. I am certainly more concerned about the offensive line.

I thought Jones was one of the best picks in the first round, although I didn't necessarily like the Perry pick last year. I think both teams will have enough offense to cover for suspect defenses, however both have worries on offense (WR for NE and O-line for GB). It will all depend on how both overcome those deficincies.

Obviously Rogers does a great job of keeping plays alive and his accuracy and anticipation is second to none, but games like Chicgao last year he wasn't given any time at all.

In NE they obviously have the best TE duo and a really good offensive line, however when it comes to the crunch they have faltered when Brady is forced to look outside.

I'm not sure I see the Superbowl for either team this year unless one of those under par units really step up